League Rules

1) This ‘League’ shall be known for the duration of the sponsorship agreement as 'The Costcutter Ceredigion Football League'. The League, and all clubs entering the League must be affiliated to the Central Wales Football Association and no club shall be admitted to the League unless it has a proper organisation, with its own Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary.

2) Annual General Meeting

a) The Annual General Meeting of the League shall be held in June or July. The officers being Patron, President, Vice-Presidents, Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Fixture and Referees Appointments Secretary shall be appointed annually.

b) The Council shall appoint two members annually to represent the League on the Central Wales Football Association.

c) A suitable honorarium may be paid to the League officials (or any of them) at the discretion of the Council.

d) The AGM at its discretion can appoint Life Members from amongst those who have served the League with distinction.

e) No alterations to the rules shall be made except at the Annual General Meeting and twenty-one days notice shall be given to the League Secretary of any proposed alteration to the Rules. Proposed alterations shall be forwarded to all Clubs in the League ten days before the date of the Annual General Meeting.

f) Any amendments to Rules to be signed by the Secretary and three Committee members from the club submitting the amendment. Amendments to rules may he submitted by individual League officials.

3) The League Council

a) The Officers, plus one representative duly appointed by each Club, and a non-voting representative from the Referees Association, shall form the League Council.

b) The League shall be managed by the Council and no matter appertaining to the running of the League shall be dealt with by any of the officials until it has been placed before the Council, or the appropriate Sub-Committee appointed by the Council.

c) A Sub-Committee comprising Chairman, Vice-Chairman and General Secretary shall however be authorised to deal with matters of extreme emergency.

d) No member shall be allowed to vote on any matter in which his Club is directly concerned.

e) Six members shall form a Quorum, the Secretary and Treasurer being included.

f) No League Official present at a Council meeting shall be eligible to represent a Club in addition.

g) When a Club is summoned to attend a Council meeting and fails to send a representative, the Club shall be fined £5 for the first failure and £10 for the second and subsequent failure to attend unless a satisfactory explanation is lodged with the Secretary prior to, or during the course of, the meeting and is duly accepted by the Council. No League meeting to be arranged if there are League fixtures arranged for the same date.

h) The Chairman shall have power to call a Council or Sub-Committee Meeting, as he may deem advisable, or on receiving a requisition signed by the Secretaries of not less than seven clubs. Council Meetings must be held regularly and must not exceed a two-month interval regardless of the business to transact. Ten days notice of any meeting must be given by the Secretary.

i) All communications must be addressed to the Secretary or the Assistant or Referees' Secretary, depending on its nature, and they shall conduct all the correspondence of the League.

j) Misconduct of players, officials, spectators’ etc., should be reported by the Referee to the Central Wales Football Association. Any other infringement (including misconduct by a Referee) shall be dealt with by the Council, who may nevertheless refer the matter to the Central Wales Football Association.

k) The Council shall have jurisdiction over all matters appertaining to the League whether specifically provided for in these Rules or not and ignorance of these Rules shall in no case be taken as an excuse.

l) Notwithstanding anything contained in these Rules to the contrary however, Clubs, players and officials aggrieved by any decision of the Council, shall have the right to appeal to the Central Wales Football Association and thereafter to the Football Association of Wales.

4) Affiliation
a) The affiliation fee for membership of the League shall be £40 per club and £20 each for any second and subsequent teams. Late affiliation shall incur a penalty of £10.

b) The entry fee for each Cup Competition shall be £10 per Competition except for the Youth Cup, for which the entry fee shall be £5.

c) The closing date for all competition entries, except the Youth Cup, and for the receipt of all affiliation fees shall be the 31st of July.

d) All fines imposed by the Council shall be paid before or at the next Council meeting. Failure to do so shall render the Club concerned to a further fine of £10.

5) The League

a) The Annual General Meeting shall decide the composition of the League for the coming season.

b) Whenever possible there shall be the same number of teams in both the First and Second Division provided that there are at least TEN teams in the First Division.

c) Any restructuring of the League shall be determined by either relegating the appropriate number of teams or by promoting the appropriate number of teams.

6) Promotion and Relegation

a) Rule 5 notwithstanding at the end of every season during which the Clubs have been divided into Divisions, the two teams in the First Division which have the lowest number of points shall be relegated to the Second Division and the two teams in the Second Division having the highest number of points shall be promoted to the First Division, provided always that there were eight or more teams participating in the Second Division during that particular season. In the event of there being less than eight teams participating in the Second Division, then one team only will be promoted from that Division and one team relegated from the First Division.

b) The same shall apply as between the Second and the Reserve Cup Division, except:

i) That promotion between Division Two and the Reserve Cup is restricted to Cardiganshire League reserve teams. In the event of no reserve team finishing in the bottom two then the lowest placed reserve team in Division Two shall be relegated unless it finishes outside the bottom four, and only one team promoted from the Reserve Cup. Also if only one reserve team finishes in the bottom two of Division Two that only that team be relegated and correspondingly only one team be promoted.

ii) All non-Cardiganshire League reserve teams shall enter the League into the lowest division and shall be eligible for promotion and relegation between all divisions.

c) When one of two teams cannot be promoted in the League Competition because the Club or Clubs already have a team in the higher Division, the team or teams next in position shall be promoted, always providing that no team lower than fourth position be promoted. When one or two teams are not promoted a similar number from the higher Division will not be relegated.

d) In similar manner, when one or two teams cannot be relegated because the Club or Clubs already has a team in the lower division, correspondingly fewer teams shall be promoted to the higher Division. Only the lowest two teams in the First Division shall qualify for relegation, providing always that in the event of a clubs First team being relegated from the First Division, and in the event of the Second team having participated in the Second Division the second team shall automatically be relegated to the Reserve Cup not withstanding its position in the Second Division during the previous season. An additional team shall be promoted from the Reserve Cup Division subject to that team not having finished lower than Fourth position.

e) In the event of a Club having two or more teams in the League, no Club shall operate more than one team in any Division of the League during any one season. New Clubs will be accepted into the appropriate Division and no Club shall be allowed to enter the League unless they have at least fifteen players registered and where a club has two teams entered in the League it must have a sufficient number of players registered to enable it to fulfil all its commitments on any given date.

7) League Championship

a) In the League competitions three points shall be awarded for each game won and one point for each game drawn. At the end of each season the Club which has been awarded the largest number of points shall be declared the Champion Club. In the event of two clubs having an equal number of points the Championship will be awarded to the Club which has the best goal difference.

b) A Championship Cup shall be presented to the winning club of each Division.

c) All Cups and trophies must be competed for annually and cannot be won outright.

d) The winning Club shall hold the Cup until the 31st day of March next following.

e) The club holding the Cup shall make good any damage that may be done to the Cup while it is in its custody. The Cup shall be the property of the League and shall be insured by it. Failure to return any cup or trophy by the said date shall render the club liable to a fine of £10.

f) In each Division the Champion Club and Runners-Up shall each be awarded fifteen medals or other mementoes and the Clubs in the final of the various Cup Competitions shall each be awarded fourteen medals or mementoes.

8) Fixtures

a) Fixtures shall be arranged by the Fixture Secretary and Clubs must play two completed matches (Home and Away) with every other Club in its Division and no fixture shall be postponed except for a Cup-tie or other match taking precedence

b) No league match may be played for six points.

c) In the event of a Club with two teams in the League having to call off a game then the first team fixture must at all times take preference.

d) No League Match shall be allowed to count as a Cup Match also.

9) Postponement of Fixtures

a) Any Club or Clubs postponing a fixture or fixtures without just cause shall be fined a minimum of £20 for the first offence, a minimum of £40 for the second offence and a minimum of £60 for the third and subsequent offences, and shall have three points deducted from its total for each offence.

b) The offending Club shall also pay all proper expenses arising out of the postponement. Inability to raise a team shall not be considered a sufficient excuse except in the case of illness or injury to players, when Medical Certificates shall be produced to the Secretary and a Sub-Committee appointed for the purpose shall decide on the merits of the case.

c) In the event of a club postponing a fixture for whatever cause then it is the responsibility of that club to inform Fixture and Referees Appointments Secretary, the opposition and the match referee before 12.00 for a Saturday or Sunday game and before 5.00 for an evening game. After those times in cases where the pitch may be deemed to be unplayable, games can only be postponed by the match referee provided that one has been so appointed.

d) If on the day of a South Cards Cup or Perry Eldridge Cup tie a club is unable to field two teams then the First team fixture will take preference. Consequently the Cup tie will be forfeited and the Club liable to the appropriate fine.

e) Clubs shall be allowed one postponement per team per season with all applications to be made in writing to the League Secretary at least fourteen days before the requested date. Ant postponed reserve team fixture shall be postponed to a date when the first team also has a scheduled fixture.

f) After a Club or team has failed to fulfil a fixture the right to request a further postponement as per e) shall be forfeit.

10) Duration of Matches

a) All matches shall be of one and half-hours duration.

b) In the event of a game having to be abandoned for any reason whatsoever after 80 minutes played, the score shall stand unless the League Council deem otherwise.

c) Any team responsible for a late kick-off and reported to the effect by the match referee shall, at the discretion of the Council he fined 20p for every minute that the game is late in kicking off.

11) Eligibility of Players

a) A player can sign a League Form for one Club only and shall not sign for any other Club in the League until he has first obtained his necessary transfer from the Club with which he is already registered and the transfer has been acknowledged by the League Secretary.

b) The Registration Secretary must receive the completed player registration form from the club no later than 5.00pm on the last working day prior to the day of the match in which the club wishes the player to participate.

c) All players must be non-contract.

d) No player shall participate in any League or Cup match, until he has attained the age of 16 years. Any Club breaking this Rule shall be deemed to have fielded an ineligible player.

e) No player can be signed on by a club after the last Thursday in March.

f) In the case of any player being found ineligible the Club playing him will be fined a minimum of £10 and deducted three points. The Council may order League games to be replayed whilst Cup matches will be deemed to have been lost.

g) Clubs are responsible for ascertaining the eligibility of players. Any enquiries to the League must be made in writing to the Secretary at leasr 48 hours before a match.

h) Any Club leaving the ground before the end of a game will be fined a minimum of £50 and will have three points deducted. The Council may order League games to be replayed whilst Cup matches will be deemed to have been lost.

12) Transfer of Players

a) The transfer fee shall be £10, and the fee for the subsequent transfer of the same player during the same season shall be £25. The club secretary must send a J4 Transfer Form to the FAW if the First teams of the two clubs involved in the transfer participate in different leagues. A £10 administration charge will be applicable.

b) No transfer shall be allowed after the last Thursday in March in each year.

c) When a player is granted his transfer from one Club to another he shall not be re-transferred to his former Club during the same season without satisfactory reason.

d) All transfers must be made on the official transfer form, which must be forwarded, with the appropriate fee to the Registration Secretary.

e) Any Club guilty of inducing or attempting to induce, a player or players of another League Club to join them shall be deemed guilty of misconduct and shall be liable to expulsion from the League, or to be fined at the discretion of the Council.

13) Substitutes

a) Three substitute players per team will be permitted at any time during all League and Cup matches except to replace a player suspended from the game by the referee.

b) Substitute players shall be nominated to the referee prior to the commencement of the game and only the named persons shall be permitted to appear as a substitute. Clubs may however nominate up to five players.

14) Referees

a) The Referees’ Secretary shall appoint Referees but only properly qualified and registered referees shall be appointed to officiate at matches except in emergency. In the event of any selected referee being unable to officiate he shall at once inform the Referees’ Secretary, who shall immediately appoint another referee to act in his place.

b) Should the chosen referee fail to present himself for a First Division game or Cup Match, the Clubs may, if possible, agree to any other individual officiating, even though such individual may be associated with one of the competing clubs. The person so agreed upon must be deemed to be an official of the League for the time being.

c) In the event of the non-appearance of the appointed Referee for a Second or Third Division match, the Clubs shall, if such a person is available, mutually agree on another person to act as referee. If the Clubs shall fail to agree on a person to officiate, they shall be liable to disciplinary action. In the event of the non-appearance of the appointed referee, both teams must wait at least 30 minutes after the advertised time of kick-off in order that efforts be made to find an alternative official.

d) Referees' fees and travelling expenses for each League and Cup Match shall be as annually determined by the Annual General Meeting or the League Council. The Referees' fees and expenses shall in all cases be paid by the Home Club, except for Cup Semi- Final and Final ties. The linesman’s fee where appointed shall be as decided by the Annual General Meeting or the League Council.

e) Referees Report Forms must also be sent to the Referees' Secretary immediately after the completion of each match and failure to do so may result in the cancellation of appointments, and/or a fine of a minimum of £2.

f) Both clubs must hand a team sheet to the referee prior to the start of the game at the end of which they will be returned to both teams for completion prior to being forwarded to the League Secretary by the home club.

15) Protests

a) All protests must be lodged in writing with the League Secretary within two days after the match (Sundays and Public Holidays excepted) and a copy sent to the opposing Club, except those relating to the ground, which must be lodged with the Referee in writing before the commencement of the game.

b) All protests must be accompanied by a deposit of £5, which will be forfeited to the funds of the League in the event of such protest, or appeal, not being sustained after hearing.

c) All protests shall be heard by the Council who may order either Club to pay such expenses to the other, or to the funds of the League, by way of fine or otherwise, as they think fit.

d) No protest should be heard in the absence of a Club concerned, but any failure to attend, on due notice of a meeting called for such purpose, shall be explained to the satisfaction of the Council, who shall have full discretion to postpone consideration, or otherwise deal with the matter.

e) Representatives of Clubs concerned in a protest shall retire when the Council proceeds to consider the evidence, but shall return when any decision is announced.

f) Any breach of rule brought to the Council's attention by a League official shall be heard in like manner to a protest.

16) Responsibilities of Clubs

a) Each club shall take its own gate receipts.

b) The Home Club shall be responsible for the conduct of the spectators towards League and Match Officials and the visiting team.

c) All clubs shall register their ground, which must be marked properly with the League.The dimensions of the playing area must conform to the requirements of the ‘Laws of the Game’.

d) Goal nets must be used in all League and Cup matches.

e) All clubs shall register their colours with the League. In the event of two competing teams having similar colours, the away team shall change.

f) No team shall change its colours without the consent of the League Council.

g) All grounds must be ready by the start of the season.

h) All teams must wear numbered shirts.

i) All clubs must register their ground measurements before the start of the season.

j) Clubs must turn out, irrespective of the weather, to fulfil fixtures. A Referee shall be the sole judge as whether a ground is fit to play on. If the weather conditions are such that the Secretary of the Home Club feels fully justified that the ground is unfit to play on or is in a doubtful state, he shall at once inform the Referees' Secretary of such fact, so as to enable the ground to be inspected by a registered Referee at the earliest possible opportunity, to prevent expenditure on an useless journey. Great judgement should, however, be exercised before this Rule is acted upon before the day of the match.

k) All Clubs must provide a linesman in all League and Cup Matches except when neutral Linesmen are appointed by the League.

l) Clubs must provide adequate First-Aid Kits.

m) i) Team sheets must be sent to the Secretary by the home club within seven days of the completed match. Failure to do so will render the club liable to a fine of £10 plus £5 per week for which it is late being presented. Incomplete team sheets shall also render the guilty club liable to a fine of £10.

ii) The Home Club must notify the Secretary of the result of the match by 5.00 of a Saturday fixture and by 9.00 of a midweek/evening fixture. Failure to do so will render the club liable to a fine of £10.

n) Teams found guilty of falsifying a team sheet in a League match shall be fined £100 and deducted 10 points. Teams found guilty of falsifying a team sheet in a Cup match shall be fined £100 and disqualified from the Competition.

o) The host club shall provide balls for the semi-finals and finals of the League’s Cup Competitions.

p) The League Council at its discretion may direct those Clubs involved to provide up to three stewards at semi-finals and finals arranged by it. Failure to comply with such a request will render a Club liable to a fine of £50.

17) Resignation of a Team

a) Any club wishing to resign membership of the League shall give notice in writing to the Secretary not later than 31st May in any year.

b) Any club or team which disbands during the season shall be deemed to have been relegated.

c) Any Club disbanding during the season shall be fined a minimum of £100. The withdrawal of a Reserve team from the League shall be subject to a minimum fine of £25.

d) In the event of a Club or team disbanding or withdrawing from the League during the season, the results of the matches played and points awarded in connection with that Club shall be deleted and ignored. Players of such a club may be registered for other Clubs with the consent of the Council.

18) Benevolent Fund

a) The League’s Benevolent Fund and all applications to the Fund for assistance shall, subject to ratification by the League Council, be administered by a Benevolence Committee comprising Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer, and Secretary to whom all applications shall be made in writing.

b) The League at its Annual General Meeting or at any subsequent meeting shall set aside sufficient funds for the proper administration of the Benevolent Fund.

c) All clubs shall make an annual donation to the Fund with the level of such donations to be decided at the Annual General Meeting.

Challenge Cup Competition Rules

1) 'The Victor Hubbard Cup" shall be called 'The Cardiganshire League Challenge Cup". The Competition shall be held annually and shall be confined to all members of the Cardiganshire League but limited to one team per club. The entire control of the Competition shall be vested in the Council. The Cup cannot be won outright by any Club. All League Clubs shall enter the League Challenge Cup.

2) The members of each team may be changed during the series of matches if thought necessary but no individual shall play for more than one competing team during the season.

3) The duration of the match shall be one and half-hours. In the event of the teams tying at the end of ninety minutes an extra half hour shall be played and should the teams still be level at the end of extra time, then the penalty kick procedure shall apply.

4) In the event of a cup-tie being twice postponed due to the pitch being unplayable then the home club shall forfeit ground advantage for the third arranged game, which must be arranged for the earliest available opportunity.

5) In the event of any Club failing to play when ordered to do so, they will be adjudged to have lost the match and shall be fined £50.

6) In the semi-final and final ties, the ground shall be chosen by the Council, who shall appoint the Referee and Linesmen and shall have all the management thereof and take gate money after administrative expenses have been paid.

7) For the Bay Cup, the South Cards Cup, the Percy Eldridge Cup and the Youth Cup the semi-final ties shall be played on the ground of the first drawn club. Those clubs shall be entitled to retain all gate receipts and shall be responsible for the paying of match officials.

8) The host club shall be responsible for organising the semi-finals and finals including the collecting of gate money.

9) The League shall provide two balls for all cup finals.

10) i) A player having been transferred to a club must have played at least two Costcutter League games for that particular club before he is deemed to be eligible for any cup competition

ii) Where a club has a team or teams playing in another league a player must have played at least two Costcutter League games for that particular club before he is deemed to be eligible for any cup competition with the exception of players attaining the age of sixteen and in the Youth Cup.

11) ‘First Team Players’

a) A ‘First Team Player’ is a player who has played six or more games for a club in another league or for a club’s first team during that particular season’.

b) No more than three first team players shall play for that clubs reserve team in the South Cards Cup.

c) No first team player shall be eligible for the Percy Eldridge Cup.

d) If a ‘First Team Player’ appears in FOUR consecutive games for the club’s Costcutter League reserve team then the status of First Team Player shall not apply.

e) Clubs found guilty of this Rule shall be fined a minimum of £10 and the cup-tie will be deemed to have been lost.

Cardigan Bay Cup Competition

The Cardiganshire League Challenge Cup Rules shall apply to the Cardigan Bay Cup Competition. The Bay Cup competition shall be played as an end of season competition.

South Cardiganshire Challenge Cup

1) a) The Cup shall be called 'South Cardiganshire Challenge Cup'. The Competition shall be held annually and shall be confined to one team per club.

b) No First Division Club shall be allowed to enter.

2) The League Rules concerning 'First Team' players in respect of the Reserve teams, shall apply to the Competition and in all other respects the Challenge Cup Competition Rules (including that governing Senior Players) shall apply. No senior player shall be eligible for the South Cards Cup.

3) The Council shall have jurisdiction over all matters appertaining to the Ceredigion Cup Competition whether specifically provided for in these Rules or not.

Percy Eldridge Cup

1) The rules of the League Cup and South Cardiganshire Challenge Cup shall apply except:-

2) Entry shall be confined to the reserve teams of Cardiganshire League sides.

3) No First team players shall be eligible for the Percy Eldridge Cup.

4) The Council at its discretion may order ties up to and including the semi-finals to be played on a home and away basis. If after the second game scores are still level then extra time shall be played and the penalty kick procedure used if required. Alternatively games may be played on a group basis with the format determined by the League Council.

5) A player must have played at least 2 games for that clubs Reserve team before he is eligible for the Percy Eldridge Cup.

6) In the event of the competition being played on a group basis club found guilty of playing an ineligible player or failing to fulfil a fixture shall be fined a minimum of £10 and deemed to have lost the fixture by 5-0

Youth Cup

The Rules shall be as for the League Cup except:

1) All participants must have signed League forms for their Clubs and must do so at least seven (7) days before the clubs' first game in the competition.

2) Players must not have attained the age of 19 years on the 1st September of each season.

3) No players living outside a radius of 10 miles from his Club's ground shall be eligible to participate unless he has played 5 or more games for that Club during that season.

4) The League Council shall annually decide the format of the Youth Cup.

5) The entry fee for the Youth Cup shall be £5.

6) The closing date for entry shall be at the discretion of the council.

7) Clubs failing to fulfil a fixture after the draw has been made will be liable to a minimum fine of £10.

Reserve Cup

1) All reserve teams not participating in the Second Division shall be eligible for the Reserve Cup.

2) The competition shall be played on a group basis with the number of groups to be decided annually by the League Council.

3) The winners of the Reserves Cup as well as the runners-up shall be eligible for promotion to Division 2.

4) No Senior Players are eligible for the Reserve Cup.

5) In group games no team shall play more than three First Team Players.